1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a synthetic resin liquid container for containing drinking water, juice, milk and other liquids.
2. Description of the Related Art
Today, it is said that an ordinary family produces garbage at an average of 800 g per day. And the total amount of garbage produced by not only families but also plants and offices all over the world may reach astronomical figures. Therefore, waste disposal is one of the biggest social issues of today. Recently, synthetic resin containers called xe2x80x9cmini bottlesxe2x80x9d have come into wide use and demand for such bottles has dramatically increased. In fact, the amount of waste mini bottles occupies not less than 15% of the above-described total amount of garbage, as the Director General of the Environment Agency reported.
Therefore, recycling these synthetic resin containers, which are difficult to incinerate, has been suggested. And now, separate collection of garbage is generally carried out by separating garbage into several categories such as xe2x80x9cfood garbagexe2x80x9d, xe2x80x9csynthetic resin containerxe2x80x9d and others.
The problem is to collect empty synthetic resin containers since such containers are bulky and thus occupy a lot of space so that transporting these empty containers is like carrying air. Further, the fact that recycling service companies are generally paid based on the weight of garbage they recovered may contribute to their unwillingness for collecting such containers.
Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a synthetic resin container that can be sufficiently resistant to intense oscillation during transport while containig liquid therein and can substantially reduce its volume when it is empty and collected as garbage, thereby enabling transporting much larger number of containers at one time.
A synthetic resin liquid container is provided which has a body that can substantially reduce its volume when a vertical and/or twisting stress is applied to the body, and a form-retaining means to be used after compression of the container body for keeping it compressed.
In one aspect of the present invention, the container body comprises a relatively hard and thin side wall with accordion-shaped contour formed on its surface, and sequentially reduced radiuses from both the upper and bottom ends toward the middle of the body, for facilitating operation of substantially reducing the volume of container as described above.
In another aspect of the present invention, the container body comprises a plurality of longitudinal grooves on the surface of its side wall, and a star-shaped cross section, for facilitating operation of substantially reducing the volume of container as described above.
In still another aspect of the present invention, the container body comprises a relatively hard and thin side wall, and a number of continuous or non-continuous oblique grooves on the side wall, for facilitating operation of substantially reducing the volume of container as described above.
In still another aspect of the present invention, the container body comprises a relatively thin side wall and a number of recesses formed thereon, for facilitating operation of substantially reducing the volume of container as described above.
In still another aspect of the present invention, the container body further comprises a belt attached to the opening of the container body, and the belt is in turn connected to a cap, for an aid in keeping the container compressed.
In still another aspect of the present invention, the opening of the container body can be embedded into the container body by pressing the opening for keeping the container compressed.
In still another aspect of the present invention, the container body also comprises a retainer means which is shorter than the height of the body and has a plurality of legs suspended from the neck portion of the body, with each leg having a claw portion at the tip which engages with the rim of the bottom of the container body for retaining the substantially reduced volume of the container body.
Alternatively, in still another aspect of the present invention, the container body also has a retainer member provided on the lower portion of the body, the retainer member having a sidewall which is shorter than that of the body, extends in upward direction and has, at the circumferential rim of the side wall thereof, a claw that can be engaged with the top of side wall of the container body.